Man Accused Of Stealing Homeless Veteran's GoFundMe Money Arrested On Another Charge

One half of the couple under criminal investigation for allegedly mishandling the GoFundMe they created for homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt Jr. was arrested in New Jersey on Monday on an outstanding warrant.

Florence Township police announced the arrest on Tuesday.

“Mark D'Amico was taken into custody last night at his residence at 9:20 p.m. for outstanding warrants," police stated. Then in all caps, they wrote, “THE OUTSTANDING WARRANTS FOR MR. D'AMICO'S ARREST WERE UNRELATED TO THE GOFUNDME INVESTIGATION.”

Later Tuesday, Burlington City police issued a statement stating that they originally stopped D'Amico, 39, on Oct. 25, 2017 for a broken tail light. Police detained D'Amico for potentially having a warrant for his arrest at the time but he supplied the necessary documentation and was released at the scene, police say. They did, however, issue him a summons for driving with a suspended license, failure to surrender his driver's license after suspension, and failing to maintain his lamps, Burlington City police said.

D’Amico was supposed to show up in court for that summons but he never did, which resulted in his arrest in May. He posted $500 cash bail. He did not show up to court again so another arrest warrant was issued on July 2. D'Amico was arrested on that warrant Monday night. He posted another $500 bail by Tuesday.

He’s been given a new court date of Sept. 18.

D’Amico and his girlfriend Kate McClure are at the center of a national controversy, which kicked off innocently enough with an act of kindness from a stranger.

Last November, McClure ran out of gas on Interstate 95 in New Jersey. It was past midnight and the highway was deserted. But homeless man Johnny Bobbitt came to her aid.

With his last $20, the Good Samaritan walked to a gas station to get her some fuel. As a token of appreciation, McClure and D’Amico created a GoFundMe campaign to repay Bobbitt for his generosity and raised $400,000 which they promised to give to Bobbitt. But Bobbitt said he didn't all the money. His attorney said he received about $75,000 of the funds, but McClure and D'Amico kept control of the rest. They claimed they were reluctant to give him the full sum for fear he would spend it on drugs, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Over the months their relationship deteriorated and lawyers representing Bobbitt successfully argued before a judge that McClure and D'Amico needed to turn over the rest of the funds. After several missed deadlines, however, lawyers for the couple revealed that all the money was gone.

The couple's lawyer expects at least one of his clients to be indicted over the controversy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Photo: Getty Images]